virtualbox.org

Hi there,
I have a Windows XP computer that I want to emulate Windows ME in so that I can play old games again.
I have tried both 4.3 (because people mentioned it works with XP), as well as 6.0 (the newest version) both of which give similar error messages when opened (the installation period was fine).

I have seen other threads with similar problems.
They tell people that the: VeriSign Class 3 Public Primary Certification Authority - G5 certificate is missing.
And to: Download the .cer file on the internet, double click under windows xp and install it under the trusted certificate section.
without the need of restart, vbox 5.2.x should work.

Where and how do I get hold of the .cer files and where abouts do I put it?
Also do I need to disable/delete anything?

VirtualBox 6.0 's and 4.3's Error Message:
WInVerifyTrust failed on stub executable: WinVerifyTrust failed with hrc=CERT_E_CHAINING on '\Device\HarddiskVolume1\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VirtualBox.exe' (rc=22919)
Please try reinstalling VirtualBox.
Where: VirtualBox what: 1 VERR_LDRVI_UNSUPPORTED_ARCH (-22919) - Unsupported image target architecture.

Help... I crave my old games

I regret I don't have the answer to your certificate question.

Lamecoded wrote:6.0 (the newest version)

The newest version at the time of this post is 6.1.18.

I believe 5.2.x was the last major version that ran on 32-bit host PCs. Your XP is very probably 32-bit, so Virtualbox 6.0.x & later will not work.

4.3x may probably work, although your error message:

Lamecoded wrote:WInVerifyTrust failed on stub executable

shows you're having hardening problems. We can try to fix the hardening problems, but you're already running a very old and insecure host OS that is very incompatible with modern internet and security hashing standards, so we might as well throw hardening out too. Download 4.3.12, the last version of Virtualbox without hardening. Be it known that no hardening makes it easier for malware to get admin privileges on the host. But of course XP makes it easier to get admin privileges on the host too. So keep that host PC off the internet.

Lamecoded wrote:I want to emulate Windows ME

See the tutorial for 95 and 98: viewtopic.php?f=28&t=9918 ME is probably similar steps. You might do better getting hold of 98 instead of ME.

Lamecoded wrote:so that I can play old games again.

There are no drivers available for the Virtualbox video card for 95/98/ME, so if the game won't run after setting up according to the tutorial above, then there will be nothing that can be done. Games don't work well in VMs if they have high graphics demands.

FWIW that XP computer might run ME adequately on the bare metal, and if the driver CDs for the hardware are still available, switching hard disks and picking the boat drive in the startup might give the best environment for games.

Lamecoded wrote:VeriSign Class 3 Public Primary Certification Authority - G5 certificate

Just two weeks ago, I analyzed a different VirtualBox problem where this certificate played a major role and couldn't be successfully validated any more:

As documented in #20226, the VirtualBox 6.1.19 Test builds >= r142917 and < r142995 rejected the signatures of some of their own files. The background reason was that, although the VeriSign [...] G5 root certificate was valid by itself (and still is), it was cross-certified by a Microsoft certificate that deliberately expired on 2021-02-22. In consequence, the current VirtualBox code cannot verify signatures with the VeriSign [...] G5 root certificate in their certificate chain any more.

I cannot really assess what that means for the problem at hand: Older VirtualBox versions used either no (<= 4.3.12) or other (<= ?.?.??) methods for code signing and signature validation (unknown to me), but I could imagine that you have to find a solution without this certificate.

I don't recall code signing ever being much of a problem for XP or WinME (i.e. older 32bit Windows).

XP as host support was officially dropped in 5.0.x if I recall correctly, though in my case it still ran. As mentioned, 32bit host support was dropped some time later - the 5.2.x era sounds about right.